HOME BLOG TEAM CHORD FINDER SUPPORT GET THE IPHONE APP

5 Most Popular And Common Guitar Chord

Progressions For Song Writers
October 13, 2016 / Tagged: BEGINNER LESSONS, GUITAR LESSONS /Author: MIKE SHEAR

While you can learn and prac ce every possible guitar

chord countless mes in the Uberchord app (click here
for free download, or if you s ll have not checked it
out!), the aim of this ar cle is to fill in your repertoire
faster than I can fill in a page.

That being said, I’m star ng in the last place beginner

guitarists want to find themselves, in the middle of
music theory class. Quick and painless, chord
nomenclature, going through a scale, major chords are
wri en with a major roman numeral, minor with lower
case.

7th’s are wri en with a superscript 7 wri en on the

right of the numeral, diminished chords with a
superscript theta to the right of the numeral (ø).

So, without going into too much detail about the why, a major scale (I’ll use the keys of G
and C as my samples) in chords are wri en as such:

If you would like a more in depth look at the theory behind scales and chord building,
Uberchord has previously wri en a full Beginner’s music theory 101 courses here:

Beginner’s Guide To Music Theory – Part 1: The Major Scale Guitar

Beginner’s Guide to Music Theory – Part 2: Music Intervals
Beginner’s Guide to Music Theory – Part 3: Chords
Beginner’s Guide to Music Theory – Part 4: The Circle of Fi hs
Beginner’s Guide to Music Theory – Part 5: Music Modes
Beginner’s Guide to Music Theory – Part 6: Chord Inversions
Beginner’s Guide to Music Theory – Part 7: Chord Progressions vol. 1
Beginner’s Guide To Music Theory – Part 8: Chord Progressions Vol. 2
Beginner’s Guide To Music Theory – Part 9: Chord Progressions in Minor Keys
I’ll be referring to informa on in these ar cles throughout this ar cle. I encourage all
players to start learning theory, it’s a pathway to understanding and breaking down what
and how your favorite players are doing. You’ll no ce that there are two chords that are
used in each of the progressions below, the I, also known as the tonic, and the V, known
as the dominant. The tonic is the tonal center of the scale, it defines the key of the song.
The dominant contains the tonal implica on of the key as well, by containing two notes
that are a tonne (one a ½ step, one a whole) lower than the two notes of the tonic, and a
single note that is shared in the tonic chord. For example, let’s use the key of C:

I: C E G

V: G B D

You’ll note the G from the I chord is also in the V chord. Walking the B up to a half step
you’ll find yourself at a C (the root of the tonic and the key), and walking the D up a
whole step you’ll find yourself the E, comple ng the I chord. The movement of notes that
imply a tonal center, or key, is referred to as a cadence.

Chord Progression 1
So, the first progression to learn is a I – iV – V7 (the 7th is op onal on this one). V7 to I is
a popular cadence or a harmonic pa ern that creates a sense of resolu on. Basic chord
building states the use of every other tone in a scale to build your chord. The most basic
chord is a triad, or three tone chord. Built from the root, or the name the chord is derived
from, you then pick every note in a scale. So if you are looking at playing a G triad in the
key of G. A scale consis ng of the following tones:

You build the triad using the three tones in bold.Let’s get to some examples of the
progression in use:

Play this in C, which come to C – F – G.

C F G
44 
11 33

11
22 
22 44
33 33 11 
22
1 1 1

You can open and practice this exercise in the Uberchord App OPEN

Richie Valens “La Bamba”

RITCHIE VALENS-LA BAMBA

The Beatles “Twist and Shout”

twist and shout-the beatles (lyrics)

Playing in different keys, with this progression, you’ll find:

The Troggs “Wild Thing”

The Troggs- Wild Thing

The Ting Tings “That’s not my Name”

The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name

Chord Progression 2
The I – IV – V progression is a break down of the 12 bar blues, which has a few of
varia ons, I’ve included a popular one below, along with an example in the key of E, G
and C:

So using the same chords as the first progression in a slightly different pa ern.

Examples of the range of music that uses the 12 bar blues?

E A B

44 44
11 33 11 33 
33 22 22
22 
1 1 1

You can open and practice this exercise in the Uberchord App OPEN

Prince – “Delirious”

Travis Tri – “Leave My Girl Alone”

Travis Tritt - Leave My Girl Alone (T-R-O-U-B-L-E)

Wilson Picke – “Mustang Sally”

Wilson Pickett - Mustang Sally

Led Zeppelin – “Rock and Roll”

Led Zeppelin - Rock and Roll HQ

Chord Progression 3
Adding a vi to the I – IV – V open up a whole new world of varia ons. Wikipedia has a
ever growing list posted.

The vi and I share common tones (the 3rd and 5th of the VI chord are the 1st and 3rd of
the I chord), and can be used almost interchangeably due to sounding close to alike. Just
to keep score, here are examples of I – vi – IV – V in G, C, and E:

As far as those common tones….

Chord Progression 4
S cking in the common tones theme, lets swap the IV with a ii, again chords that share 2
common tones.

I – vi – ii – V is pre y popular, here is a short list of songs:

John Mayer “Back to You”

John Mayer 'Back to You'

Michael Jackson “You are Not Alone”

Michael Jackson - You Are Not Alone (O cial Video)

The Four Seasons “Sherry”

Four Seasons Sherry Original Stereo

The Muppets “Rainbow Connec on”

Kermit Sings "The Rainbow Connection" - The Muppets

Chord Progression 5
Again, I’m lis ng these progressions in their popularity of use, trying to maximize a
repertoire, while minimizing the amount of memoriza on having to be done. So for the
last progression of the ar cle, we’ll go with I – V – vi – iii – IV.

This is a progression first popularized by Johann Pachelbel with his “Cannon in D”:

Canon in D by Pachelbel (Vetta Quartet from Singapore)

You’ll recognize it in songs like:

The Red Hot Chili Peppers “Under the Bridge”

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under The Bridge (O cial Music Video)

Katy Perry “Fire Work”

Katy Perry - Firework (O cial)

Green Day “Basketcase”

Green Day - Basket Case (Acoustic)

If you are at all in interested in the how and why these progressions are so commonly
used, I really do encourage you to read through Uberchords music theory ar cles. If you
would like an extensive list of common chord progressions Hook Theory has put one
together in order of simple to complex.

NEWSLETTER

Email Address SUBSCRIBE

Related Posts

10 Essen al Guitar Chords for Songwri ng Tips for Beginners: The Guitar Effects 101: Choosing the
Beginners With Songs – Part 1 Art of Stealing Right Pedalboard Order

Comments (0)

No comments yet - be the first.

LEAVE A COMMENT

NEWSLETTER

F T L Email Address SUBSCRIBE

HOME BLOG TEAM CHORD FINDER – LEARN GUITAR HOW CAN WE HELP? IMPRINT PRESS PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright © 2019 Uberchord Engineering